


What We Had Before

by Wolfcry22



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King, IT Chapter Two - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Caretaking, Concerned Eddie Kaspbrak, Fluff, M/M, Memories, Movie: IT Chapter Two (2019), Sick Character, Sick Richie Tozier, Sickfic, Vomiting, headache
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 20:13:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21514579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfcry22/pseuds/Wolfcry22
Summary: After the dinner at the Chinese Restaurant, all the Losers go back to the inn to spend the night and go to sleep. However, Richie feels the beginnings of an intense headache from either stress of the memories coming back and camps out in the bathroom with the light off because he thinks he’s going to be violently ill. Eddie comes in and sees him and tries to comfort him.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 2
Kudos: 215





	What We Had Before

Eddie woke up in the middle of the night from a fitful sleep. He couldn’t believe that he was back in Derry, Maine. He had tried to leave the hellhole behind and he hadn’t even remembered this was where he grew up until he arrived back. He saw the rest of the Losers and that had been fine enough until the memories of Pennywise and all that they had been through came back. Then he heard about Stan’s suicide and now he had been shaking in his bed in terror for the last three hours. He had managed to sort of fall asleep, but there was no way that he could go back to sleep now. His muscles were tense and he could feel a knot beginning to appear at deep within his shoulder. A nice, warm shower sounded amazing right then, even if it was almost four o’clock in the morning. 

He groaned as he sat up and stepped out of his bed. He walked over to the corner of the room lazily and grabbed his toiletry bag before fishing out some body wash for a quick shower. He then grabbed a change of pajamas before he made his way out of the small inn room and across the hall to the shared bathroom at the end of the hall. He opened the door and flicked on the lights.

“Hey! What the hell?!”

Eddie nearly dropped the bundle in his arms as he gasped to see Richie sitting in the corner of the bathroom close to the toilet. His eyes were nearly squeezed shut and a sickly sheen seemed to pass over his face while sweat clung to his brow. 

“Richie, what are you doing in here,” Eddie huffed in frustration. All that he wanted to do was take a shower to wash the uncomfortableness from him and loosen his tense muscles and yet he had found Richie there. 

Richie winced painfully as he swallowed thickly. He let out a heavy breath as he tried to relax back into the wall. “Shut up,” he rasped painfully. “And turn off the damn lights. It’s making everything fucking worse.”

Surprise flickered across Eddie’s features. It took him a moment before he shut the overhead light off and turned on one of the dimmer lights that was over the shower. He reached over to close the curtain before he turned back to Richie. “That better,” he asked.

Richie groaned as he lifted up his hands to try and massage the back of his neck. “Not really,” he answered gruffly.

Eddie rolled his eyes as he set his clothes and body wash on the sink. He then crouched down in front of Richie as he tried to meet his eyes in the darkness. The light partially showed Richie’s face while the other half was shadowed in darkness. Richie shifted away from Eddie’s scrutinizing gaze as he pressed his forehead and against the cool tiled wall, swallowing thickly as if he was trying to swallow back the nausea that rose inside.

“What are you doing in here at 4 o’clock in the morning,” Eddie asked softly. He tried to keep his voice as gentle as possible since his regular talking voice had seemed to be too loud for Richie. “Can’t hold your liquor, Tozier?”

Richie shrugged, not even feeding into the jab that Eddie had just given him. “I could ask you the same thing,” he flashed.

“I came in here to take a shower to try and calm me down because I just remembered all of this shit that happened in Derry. Pennywise the fucking clown, my mother, the Losers Club, the bullying, everything just came over me and it’s overwhelming so I came in here to take a shower to relax me. Alright your turn,” Eddie rambled, speaking so quickly that Richie’s head seemed to spin as he tried to track everything that he was saying.

Richie managed a tiny nod, his face twisted in pain. “Uh, just have a bit of a headache Eddie Spaghetti.”

Eddie recalled the nickname, one of many, that Richie called him. Frustration seemed to well inside of him as he glared at Richie. “Don’t call me that.” He shook himself out a bit as he shifted into a less painful sitting position. “This seems like more of a headache if you’re in the bathroom with the lights off.”

“Just felt a little nauseous is all,” Richie deflected with a slight strain of his neck as he twisted into a more comfortable position while still being able to speak to Eddie. “When Mike called me I puked. Didn’t want that to happen again.”

Eddie shuddered just at the thought. Any disease or ailment freaked Eddie out to his core. Vomit was one of the worst. Undigested food and the smell. Eddie felt himself almost becoming sick just at the thought of Richie puking. He tried to push that thought from his mind as he looked back to Richie. “Do you get headaches often,” Eddie inquired.

Richie grunted as one of his hands trailed up to his forehead and pressed his fingers against it. “I guess so,” he muttered. “Not usually this bad, though. Must be fucking Derry making me feel like shit. I should’ve never come back here. So stupid!”

“Well, I’m glad that you came back here,” Eddie suddenly blurted before he could even think about what he was saying. “I just mean that it’s nice to see you again, everyone again, even though now I remember all the shit that happened here. I guess there’s a give and take.”

Richie didn’t appear to be listening. He just groaned as he leaned forward with his head almost forced between his knees. He began to tangle his fingers through his hair and slightly pulled in an attempt to alleviate the pressure. A groan escaped his lips as he almost rocked back and forth.

Eddie couldn’t stand to see Richie in pain in front of him. He immediately started into a caretaking mode that he didn’t even know he was born with. He straightened and leaned over the sink while running the cool water in the sink. He picked up a washcloth that was hanging on one of the hooks and began to wet it in the water. He turned off the sink while wringing out the excess water and kneeling back down to Richie.

He set the washcloth on the back of his neck and Richie hissed in alarm with his head snapping upward. Agony then pulsed through his skull as he let out a harsh gag. He leaned over the toilet painfully and started to heave. Eddie felt his own sickening feeling seeming to spread over him and it took all that he could to stop himself from vomiting alongside Richie.

Richie only brought up some water and a little alcohol he had earlier. He dry heaved afterwards as he ran a hand against the side of his faced tiredly, his eyes drawn.

Eddie tried to push back terror of sickness before he reached out the wet washcloth and laid it on the back of Richie’s neck again. “Don’t move this time,” Eddie chided as he began to rub the washcloth around in an effort to cool Richie down. “It’ll just make it worse and I’m only trying to help you.”

Richie didn’t have one of his usual wisecracking comments. He just slumped back against the wall while reaching out a hand to flush the toilet. He nose wrinkled in disgust at himself as he rubbed the washcloth against the back of his neck as he let out a painful cough. “Sucks,” he muttered. 

“I know,” Eddie managed to reply sympathetically. He leaned back against the wall beside Richie as he stretched out a hand and slightly tucked one of his Richie’s curls behind his ears. “Remember that time that you were sick at school and you didn’t want go home to those asshole parents of yours? We all took shifts with you in the school bathroom.” Eddie had no idea where that memory came from. He didn’t remember that memory until the words were falling out of his mouth.

Richie forced a smile. “I remember that. Never thought I’d see Eddie Kaspbrak sitting on a bathroom floor again,” he chuckled.

Eddie leaned over and nudged his shoulder against Richie’s good-naturally. “Shut up. The only reason that I’m in here is because of you, idiot.”

“Me,” echoed Richie as he slightly craned his neck to the side. “Huh, never knew I was such a draw, Eds.”

“Don’t call me that,” snapped Eddie before lowering his voice once again when he saw Richie wince. “Sorry. Guess old habits die hard sometimes.”

Richie murmured wordlessly in agreement. His head suddenly slightly fell forward before he slid against the wall with his head suddenly crashing on Eddie’s shoulder. Eddie froze in surprise before he looked down at the exhausted man slumped on his shoulder. Sympathy showed on his face as he watched Richie lay on him. Eddie felt a rush of excitement to have Richie press against him, but he quickly forced those thoughts aside.

“Come on,” Eddie chided as he moved his shoulder so that Richie had to rouse his head from it’s comfortable position. “It’s going to be a lot more comfortable actually in your bed than on the floor.”

Richie groaned. “But what if I get sick again,” he complained.

“Then you just come back here. I doubt anyone else will be dying to get into the bathroom at 4 in the morning,” Eddie pointed out as he stood up and took the washcloth to rewet it for Richie.

Richie groaned once more even though he could tell that Eddie was right. He weakly tried to rise to his feet until he saw stars dancing in front of his vision. He looked almost stunned as he stumbled forward. 

Luckily, Eddie saw what was happening just in time. He surged forward and caught Richie right before he could fall. “Woah, woah, easy there,” chided Eddie as he pulled Richie’s arm around his shoulders and helped Richie straighten up with Eddie’s arm wrapped around Richie’s waist.

“I don’t think I feel so good,” Richie stated as he looked down to Eddie.

Eddie rolled his eyes. “You don’t say. Come on, let’s get you back to your room,” he grunted as he helped almost drag Richie forward. Eddie wasn’t weak by any means, but Richie was almost completely relying on Eddie to support him and Eddie was struggling under his dead weight.

The two of them stumbled through the hallway with Eddie struggling to help Richie over to the room that Richie was staying in. He helped him into the room and over to the bed. Eddie set Richie down on the bed before kneeling down to pull off his slippers. He still held the washcloth in his fist before bringing it up to rest it over Richie’s eyes in an attempt to not only cool him down, but help ease the pain and tension that Richie felt.

“Just keep that there and if you need anything from me, just holler,” Eddie instructed as he took a step away from the bed.

Suddenly, Richie reached out a hand and grasped Eddie’s hand fiercely. “Please don’t leave,” Richie suddenly begged.

Surprise flickered in Eddie’s eyes. “Richie.”

Richie released Eddie’s hand as if realizing what he was doing for the first time. He appeared flustered as he squeezed his eyes shut. “Shit, sorry. I don’t know what came over me. Nevermind, thanks for the help. I’m good,” he huffed as he turned onto his side with the washcloth slightly falling from his forehead.

Eddie set his jaw as he contemplated things in his head. Against his better judgement, he sighed as he stretched out a hand to push against Richie’s shoulder. “Move over,” he ordered.

Richie glanced back through squinted eyes in surprise. He then scooted over as Eddie had requested as Eddie sat on top of the comforter as he reached over and pulled the washcloth back over Richie’s eyes. “Close your eyes and get some rest. I’ll be right here,” Eddie reassured.

Richie rolled around to face Eddie as he shifted so that his head was rested on Eddie’s shoulder and the washcloth still over his eyes. “Thanks, Eds.”

Eddie opened his mouth to speak up about how he hated that nickname, but when he looked down to Richie, he was already asleep. Affection for Richie pulsed through Eddie as he suddenly lowered his head and planted a kiss on top of Richie’s head. He slightly hovered there as if not wanting to be apart from Richie. Even sick he wanted to feel Richie’s heartbeat and his muscles against him. A feeling of affection washed over him as he smiled through the kill. “You’re welcome, Trashmouth.”


End file.
